TurkmenPost

In another example of "ransomware," a new Trojan horse threatens to delete files unless the victim pays up, security experts have warned.

When activated, the Trojan horse, dubbed Ransom-A by antivirus company Sophos, displays some explicit images. It then shows an expletive message that demands a $10.99 payment, or it will delete one file every 30 minutes, security experts at SophosLabs said in a statement published Friday.

"This Trojan horse is designed to take your data hostage and tries to scare users into paying up quickly by threatening to wipe files one-by-one," Graham Cluley, senior technology consultant at Sophos, said in the statement.

The Trojan asks for payment via the Western Union money transfer service and promises delivery of a special disarming code after the ransom is paid, Sophos said.

This is the second example of malicious software that seeks to extort money in as many months. In March, a Trojan horse that encrypts victims’ files and demands a $300 payment to have them decrypted and unlocked made the rounds. A similar attack was spotted in May of last year.

via zdnet.